What's in a name?

Have you ever noticed how easily society imposes certain restrictions on people merely by the choice of words? We are taught as young 'uns that "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me." Apparently, this notion is lost in the adult world. Take for example, the issue of curse words. We have seen all too many times that a person swears at another person with the receiving party only to get a little pissed off and peeved. Now really I wonder who is more foolish the person cursing or the person being cussed at? The person who cussed ought to know that a word really will do no harm to another person unless the second party make a deal of it and give it undue importance. Another thing about verbage is how we use them for titles and restrict the application of what otherwise could have been more generally appealing. Take for instance BET (Black Entertainment Television) now by giving it such a name the viewership is largely restricted to black people whereas if they had not used that title they just might have reached a far larger audience. A person who does not find hip-hop or rap very appealing may associate hip-hop/rap as black culture and hence deprive themselves of exploring something new, when I am sure BET would have more to offer.